Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 55:15

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 55:15. Let death seize upon them — This is a prediction of the sudden destruction which should fall on the ringleaders in this rebellion. And it was so. Ahithophel, seeing his counsel rejected, hanged himself. Absalom was defeated; and, fleeing away, he was suspended by the hair in a tree, under which his mule had passed; and being found thus by Joab, he was despatched with three darts; and the people who espoused his interests were almost all cut off. They fell by the sword, or perished in the woods. See 2 Samuel 18:8.

Let then go down quick into hell — Let them go down alive into the pit. Let the earth swallow them up! And something of this kind actually took place. Absalom and his army were defeated; twenty thousand of the rebels were slain on the field; and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured, 2 Samuel 18:7-8. The words might be rendered, "Death shall exact upon them; they shall descend alive into sheol." And death did exact his debt upon them, as we have seen above.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 55:0 Betrayed by a friend

David is worried and uncertain. He has found that so-called friends have been plotting against him (e.g. Ahithophel; 2 Samuel 15:12,2 Samuel 15:31; 2 Samuel 17:1-3) and he knows not which way to turn. He remembers things he saw certain people do and realizes now that they were treacherously aimed at his downfall (1-3).

Overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness, David fears that death is upon him (4-5). He wishes that he could escape from it all. He would like to fly away like a bird, so that he could find a quiet place where he could shelter from the storm (6-8). Then he thinks again of the murderous plans that people have laid against him. Along the city walls, around the streets, in the market places, people plot against him (9-11). Most heart-breaking of all is the knowledge that the person behind this plotting is the one he thought was his closest friend (12-14). Such traitors deserve a fitting punishment (15).
In his distress David turns to God and his faith awakens. He knows that God will save those who trust in him, and overthrow those who deliberately ignore him (16-19). But he cannot forget his false friend and the treacherous way his friend has lied to him (20-21). He decides finally that the only way to be relieved of the burden on his mind is to hand it over to God. He is confident that God will look after the righteous and punish the wicked (22-23).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE PRAYER RESUMED

“Let death come suddenly upon them, Let them go down alive into Sheol; For wickedness is in their dwelling, in the midst of them.”

The very first part of the resumed prayer petitions God to bring the enemies down into Sheol alive, to their “sudden death.” One may well ignore all of the “too bad, too bad” comments on verses like this, which speak of personal vindictiveness and horrible private vengeance upon enemies.

David’s situation here was exactly that of Moses the great lawgiver of Israel, whose leadership of Israel was challenged by Korah; here David’s leadership of Israel was challenged by Absalom. In both instances, there was no middle ground; one only could be the Theocratic Leader; and like Moses of old, David pleaded with God to decide it by the death of the challengers, just as God decided in favor of Moses by the miraculous death of Korah and his group who were swallowed up alive by the earth itself (Numbers 16:30). As Kidner said, “`Let them go down alive into Sheol’ is a clear echo of Numbers 16:30, where Moses had called for proof that the people who were resisting him were in fact rebels against God.”Derek Kidner, Vol. I, p. 200. David was calling for exactly the same kind of decision here.

David was conscious that his earthly kingdom was a type of the Kingdom of Heaven, hence the utmost necessity of God’s favorable answer of David’s heart-felt prayer. His beloved son Absalom and his best friend Ahithophel were the challengers. Note the prayer for their sudden death was answered at once. Ahithophel committed suicide, and Joab thrust a dart through the heart of Absalom. Sad? Certainly! But the alternative would have frustrated forever the purpose of God in human redemption.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Let death seize upon them - This would be more correctly rendered, “Desolations (are) upon them!” That is, Desolation, or destruction will certainly come upon them. There is in the original no necessary expression of a wish or prayer that this might be, but it is rather the language of certain assurance - the expression of a fact - that such base conduct - such wickedness - would make their destruction certain; that as God is just, they must be overwhelmed with ruin. Injury is sometimes done in the translation of the Scriptures by the insertion of a wish or prayer, where all that is necessarily implied in the original is the statement of a fact. This has been caused here by the somewhat uncertain meaning of the word which is used in the original. That phrase is ישׁימות yaśimâveth. It occurs nowhere else. Our translators understood it (as the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and Luther do) as made up of two words. More correctly, however, it is to be regarded as one word, meaning “desolations,” or “destructions.” So Gesenius (Lexicon), Rosenmuller, and Prof. Alexander understand it.

And let them go down quick into hell - “Alive,” or “living,” for that is the meaning of the word “quick” here - חיים chayiym - as it commonly is in the Scriptures. Compare Leviticus 13:10; Numbers 16:30; Acts 10:42; 2 Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 4:12; 1 Peter 4:5. The word “hell” is rendered in the margin “the grave.” The original word is “sheol,” and means here either the grave, or the abode of departed spirits. See the notes at Isaiah 14:9; notes at Job 10:21-22. There is a harshness in the translation of the term here which is unnecessary, as the word “hell” with us now uniformly refers to the place of punishment for the wicked beyond death. The meaning here, however, is not that they would be consigned to wrath, but that they would be cut off from the land of the living. The idea is that their destruction might be as sudden as if the earth were to open, and they were to descend alive into the chasm. Probably there is an implied allusion here to the manner in which the company of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram was destroyed, Numbers 16:31-33. Compare Psalms 106:17.

For wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them - Wickedness abounds in all their transactions. It is in their houses, and in their hearts. This is mentioned as a reason why they should be cut off and consigned to the grave. It is the reason why people are cut down at all; it is often a fact that wicked people are most manifestly cut down for their sins. And because it will be better for the community that the wicked should be punished than that they should escape, so there is no evidence that David cherished malice or ill-will in his heart. See General Introduction, Section 6 (5).

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

15Let death seize upon them. He now denounces the whole faction, not the nation generally, but those who had taken a prominent part in the persecution of him. In imprecating this curse he was not influenced by any bad feeling towards them, and must be understood as speaking not in his own cause but in that of God, and under the immediate guidance of his Spirit. This was no wish uttered in a moment of resentment or of reckless and ill-considered zeal, and which would justify us in launching maledictions against our enemies upon every trivial provocation. The spirit of revenge differs widely from the holy and regulated fervor with which David prays for the judgment of God against wicked men, who had already been doomed to everlasting destruction. The translation, Let death condemn them, is forced, and so also is another which has been suggested, Let him appoint death a creditor over them. ⁽³¹⁰⁾ That which we have given is the most obvious and simple. In praying that his enemies may descend alive into the grave, it has been well observed, that he seems to allude to the punishment of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; though I conceive that in imprecating sudden and unexpected ruin upon them, he adverts to the proud persuasion which they cherished in their prosperity, that they would escape the stroke of death. “Lord,” as if he had said, “in the infatuation of their pride they consider themselves to be exempted from the ordinary lot of mortality, but let the earth swallow them up alive — let nothing prevent their being dragged down with all their pomp to the destruction which they deserve.” The cause which he assigns for his prayer in the latter part of the verse, is another proof that he was not influenced by any personal resentment against his enemies, but simply denounced the just judgments of God upon such as persecuted the Church. Wickedness, he adds, is in their dwelling By this he meant that it could not but dwell where they dwelt and this he expresses still more fully when he adds, in the midst of them; intimating, that they inwardly cherished their wickedness, so that it was their inseparable companion, and dwelt with them under the same roof.

(310) This is the sense in which Horsley understands the passage. He observes, that “the image here is not sufficiently expressed by the English word seize, though it is not impossible that our translators might intend to allude to the seizure of a debtor. But this is rather a kindred image than the same. The precise image in the original is the exaction of payment, not the seizure of the person.” His rendering is, “Let death exalt his claim upon them.”

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 55:1-23

Psalms 55:1-23 :

Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me ( Psalms 55:1-3 ).

I told you, David was capable of inspiring hate or love. You either loved the guy or hated the guy. And the feelings towards David were quite strong. And he was always praying about his enemies, and those that were after him, and those that were seeking to destroy him.

"For they cast iniquity upon me, in wrath they hate me."

My heart is sore pain within me: the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh that I had the wings like a dove! for I would fly out of this place, and be at rest. Lo, then I would wonder far off, and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and the tempest. Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go upon the walls thereof: and mischief also and the sorrows are in the midst of it. Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets ( Psalms 55:4-11 ).

Now David evidently wrote this psalm when he was fleeing from Absalom. For David's close counselor and friend, Ahithophel, actually revolted against David when Absalom did. He went with Absalom. And Ahithophel began to counsel Absalom on how to destroy David. This is the thing that really hurt David, is that Absalom had turned against him. David said,

For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: But it was you, a man mine equal, my guide, my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, we walked into the house of God in company ( Psalms 55:12-14 ).

So David is so hurt because it really wasn't an enemy to David that had done such a dirty thing to him, but it was a fellow that he had had beautiful fellowship with. They had talked together. They had counseled together. They had gone into the house of God and fellowshipped together, and yet he turned himself against David. And that is always, I think, some of the greatest hurts that we experience, are when men that we have trusted and put our confidence, utmost confidence in, and we have trusted them unquestionably. And they have worked together with us and labored together with us. And we have given them great responsibilities. And suddenly they turn, and they begin to tell vicious lies. They violate the trust that you have put in them. They turn against you. They take from you, and that hurts. Because you have put all kinds of confidence in them. You have trusted them completely, implicitly. And suddenly you realize, as did David in verse Psalms 55:21 , the words of his mouth were smoother than butter. But war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, yet they were like a drawn sword.

And that's what really hurts, is when someone that you have really placed complete confidence and trust in, and entrusted with a great part of the ministry. And then they turn and try to take it. That hurts beyond anything that I have ever had hurt, as far as the ministry goes.

And David felt this very hurt himself. The hurt of a friend, a comrade, an associate, one that you had fellowshipped and trusted, when they turn against you. So David speaks about this, the turning of Ahithophel. And David isn't so kind with him after he turned. He said,

Let death seize upon them, let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them. As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me ( Psalms 55:15-16 ).

You know, it's not going to destroy me. The Lord is going to take care of me. But the tragedies that will befall those.

Evening, and at morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me. God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God. He hath put forth his hands against such as be it peace with him: he hath broken his covenant ( Psalms 55:17-20 ).

Broken promises and covenants.

The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet they were like drawn swords. [David said,] Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. But thou, O God, shall bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee ( Psalms 55:21-23 ).

That is the only place to move, into the Lord. And there is comfort and blessing and joy. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 55

The occasion that inspired the composition of this individual lament psalm was David’s betrayal by an intimate friend. We do not know with certainty who he was, though some commentators have suggested Ahithophel (2 Samuel 15:31). One manuscript of Jerome’s Latin Version has the title "The voice of Christ against the chiefs of the Jews and the traitor Judas." [Note: Kirkpatrick, p. 308.]

David prayed that God would deliver him from his plight. He also lamented his distress that a trusted friend had betrayed him, and he voiced confidence in God who redeems His elect.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. A request out of deceit 55:9-15

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

David called down God’s judgment on his former friend and his ungodly allies. By opposing David, this traitor was also opposing God since David was the Lord’s anointed. As he had deceived David by his treachery, so God should deceive him by putting him to death. Going down alive to the grave pictures a violent rather than a peaceful death (cf. Numbers 16:31-40).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Let death seize upon them,.... Ahithophel and his accomplices, Judas and the men with him; as a mighty man, as the king of terrors, and shake them to pieces. Or, "let him exact upon them" a; as a creditor upon the debtor, and demand the debt of punishment for sin: or let him come upon them at an unawares; let them not die a natural, but a violent death. The Targum mentions Doeg and Ahithophel;

[and] let them, go down quick into hell: as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, went down quick or alive into the earth; so let these men die, and descend into the grave, in their full strength; and accordingly Absalom and Ahithophel died sudden and violent deaths, 2 Samuel 17:23; and so did Judas, Matthew 27:5; and the beast and false prophet, another part of the antitype, will be taken and cast alive into the lake of fire,

Revelation 19:20;

for wickedness [is] in their dwellings; and dwells in them; wherever they go or sojourn, this goes and abides with them, being the reigning principle in their hearts and lives;

[and] among them; in the midst of them; their inward part is very wickedness. The Targum is, "in their bodies". But rather the sense is, in their hearts; wickedness was both in their houses and in their hearts, and is the reason of the imprecation on them; which arises not from a revengeful spirit, but from a zeal for the glory of God; and is to be considered as a prophecy of what would be, and not to be drawn into an example for private Christians to act by.

a ישי "exigat debitum", Pagninus; "aget vel agat exactorem", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Gejerus, Amama.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.   10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.   11 Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets.   12 For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him:   13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance.   14 We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.   15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.

      David here complains of his enemies, whose wicked plots had brought him, though not to his faith's end, yet to his wits' end, and prays against them by the spirit of prophecy. Observe here,

      I. The character he gives of the enemies he feared. They were of the worst sort of men, and his description of them agrees very well with Absalom and his accomplices. 1. He complains of the city of Jerusalem, which strangely fell in with Absalom and fell off from David, so that he had none there but how own guards and servants that he could repose any confidence in: How has that faithful city become a harlot! David did not take the representation of it from others; but with his own eyes, and with a sad heart, did himself see nothing but violence and strife in the city (Psalms 55:9; Psalms 55:9); for, when they grew disaffected and disloyal to David, they grew mischievous one to another. If he walked the rounds upon the walls of the city, he saw that violence and strife went about it day and night, and mounted its guards, Psalms 55:10; Psalms 55:10. All the arts and methods which the rebels used for the fortifying of the city were made up on violence and strife, and there were no remains of honesty or love among them. If he looked into the heart of the city, mischief and injury, mutual wrong and vexation, were in the midst of it: Wickedness, all manner of wickedness, is in the midst thereof. Jusque datum sceleri--Wickedness was legalized. Deceit and guile, and all manner of treacherous dealing, departed not from her streets,Psalms 55:11; Psalms 55:11. It may be meant of their base and barbarous usage of David's friends and such as they knew were firm and faithful to him; they did them all the mischief they could, by fraud or force. Is this the character of Jerusalem, the royal city, and, which is more, the holy city, and in David's time too, so soon after the thrones of judgment and the testimony of Israel were both placed there? Is this the city that men call the perfection of beauty?Lamentations 2:15. Is Jerusalem, the head-quarters of God's priests, so ill taught? Can Jerusalem be ungrateful to David himself, its own illustrious founder, and be made too hot for him, so that he cannot reside in it? Let us not be surprised at the corruptions and disorders of this church on earth, but long to see the New Jerusalem, where there is no violence nor strife, no mischief nor guilt, and into which no unclean thing shall enter, nor any thing that disquiets. 2. He complains of one of the ringleaders of the conspiracy, that had been very industrious to foment jealousies, to misrepresent him and his government, and to incense the city against him. It was one that reproached him, as if he either abused his power or neglected the use of it, for that was Absalom's malicious suggestion: There is no man deputed of the king to hear thee,2 Samuel 15:3. That and similar accusations were industriously spread among the people; and who was most active in it? "Not a sworn enemy, not Shimei, nor any of the nonjurors; then I could have borne it, for I should not have expected better from them" (and we find how patiently he did bear Shimei's curses); "not one that professed to hate me, then I would have stood upon my guard against him, would have hidden myself and counsels from him, so that it would not have been in his power to betray me. But it was thou, a man, my equal," Psalms 55:13; Psalms 55:13. The Chaldee-paraphrase names Ahithophel as the person here meant, and nothing in that plot seems to have discouraged David so much as to hear that Ahithophel was among the conspirators with Absalom (2 Samuel 15:31), for he was the king's counsellor,1 Chronicles 27:33. "It was thou, a man, my equal, one whom I esteemed as myself, a friend as my own soul, whom I had laid in my bosom and made equal with myself, to whom I had communicated all my secrets and who knew my mind as well as I myself did,--my guide, with whom I advised and by whom I was directed in all my affairs, whom I made president of the council and prime-minister of state,--my intimate acquaintance and familiar friend; this is the man that now abuses me. I have been kind to him, but I find him thus basely ungrateful. I have put a trust in him, but I find him thus basely treacherous; nay, and he could not have done me the one-half of the mischief he does if I had not shown him so much respect." All this must needs be very grievous to an ingenuous mind, and yet this was not all; this traitor had seemed a saint, else he had never been David's bosom-friend (Psalms 55:14; Psalms 55:14): "We took counsel together, spent many an hour together, with a great deal of pleasure, in religious discourse," or, as Dr. Hammond reads it, "We joined ourselves together to the assembly; I gave him the right hand of fellowship in holy ordinances, and then we walked to the house of God in company, to attend the public service." Note, (1.) There always has been, and always will be, a mixture of good and bad, sound and unsound, in the visible church, between whom, perhaps for a long time, we can discern no difference; but the searcher of hearts does. David, who went to the house of God in his sincerity, had Ahithophel in company with him, who went in his hypocrisy. The Pharisee and the publican went together to the temple to pray; but, sooner or later, those that are perfect and those that are not will be made manifest. (2.) Carnal policy may carry men on very far and very long in a profession of religion while it is in fashion, and will serve a turn. In the court of pious David none was more devout than Ahithophel, and yet his heart was not right in the sight of God. (3.) We must not wonder if we be sadly deceived in some that have made great pretensions to those two sacred things, religion and friendship; David himself, though a very wise man, was thus imposed upon, which may make similar disappointments the more tolerable to us.

      II. His prayers against them, which we are both to stand in awe of and to comfort ourselves in, as prophecies, but not to copy into our prayers against any particular enemies of our own. He prays, 1. That God would disperse them, as he did the Babel-builders (Psalms 55:9; Psalms 55:9): "Destroy, O Lord! and divide their tongues; that is, blast their counsels, by making them to disagree among themselves, and clash with one another. Send an evil spirit among them, that they may not understand one another, but be envious and jealous one of another." This prayer was answered in the turning of Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness, by setting up the counsel of Hushai against it. God often destroys the church's enemies by dividing them; nor is there a surer way to the destruction of any people than their division. A kingdom, an interest, divided against itself, cannot long stand. 2. That God would destroy them, as he did Dathan and Abiram, and their associates, who were confederate against Moses, whose throat being an open sepulchre, the earth therefore opened and swallowed them up. This was then a new thing which God executed, Numbers 16:30. But David prays that it might now be repeated, or something equivalent (Psalms 55:15; Psalms 55:15): "Let death seize upon them by divine warrant, and let them go down quickly into hell; let them be dead, and buried, and so utterly destroyed, in a moment; for wickedness is wherever they are; it is in the midst of them." The souls of impenitent sinners go down quick, or alive, into hell, for they have a perfect sense of their miseries, and shall therefore live still, that they may be still miserable. This prayer is a prophecy of the utter, the final, the everlasting ruin of all those who, whether secretly or openly, oppose and rebel against the Lord's Messiah.